As part of Shaw Local’s 2026 election coverage, we asked the candidates running for Will County sheriff to answer the same set of questions about public safety, leadership, and the future of the sheriff’s office. Now, you can listen to their responses anytime

A Will County judge said he had to follow the pretrial release provision of the SAFE-T Act, which has been deemed constitutional, and he could not be an "activist" judge or legislate from the bench.

Patrick "PJ" Jones: If elected, one of my goals is to mandate all sworn law enforcement officers exceed the minimum state mandated hours for mental health training, crisis intervention and nonviolent de-escalation

Dan Jungles: Increasing transparency at the Will County Sheriff’s Office is my number one priority

Jim Reilly: I personally feel we should be allowed to release non-documented offenders from our custody (jails and prisons) directly to ICE however, that is currently against Illinois State law, the Illinois Trust Act.

Democratic candidates for Will County sheriff spoke at a forum on about their vision for the sheriff’s office and addressed questions on dealing with federal immigration enforcement.

A Bolingbrook man accused of bringing a gun to the Will County Courthouse is facing a charges from last year of unlawful possession of a gun by felon.

Will County's undersheriff provided a timeline of the investigation that led to a Joliet school custodian to face a charge of child sex abuse materials.

A Will County judge set a hearing for Jan. 23 to hear arguments on whether a Michigan man can be held in jail under the SAFE-T Act in a 1988 Joliet Township murder case.

A Will County judge may decide on Jan. 12 whether a former Crest Hill resident will stay in jail while he awaits trial on charges that alleged he killed his wife in 1988.

A former Will County sheriff’s deputy is facing six more felony charges accusing him of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and possession of child sex abuse materials.

The suspect in a Frankfort Square gas station armed robbery was found “hiding in the women’s restroom of a nearby McDonald’s,” police said.

The "quick actions" of four Will County sheriff's deputies have been credited with saving the life of a pregnant woman who was injured in a shooting earlier this year.

A dog spa in Homer Glen is hosting a “Pictures with Santa” event to raise money for a ballistic vest for a K-9 with the Will County Sheriff’s Office.

Undercover officers who met with a Joliet man last Thursday for a drug buy at a McDonald’s had attempted to pin in his vehicle and arrest him before he fled and caused a multi-vehicle crash, prosecutors said.

A judge has ordered the Will County Sheriff’s Office to pay a Mokena man more than $19,000 following the dismissal of a forfeiture case that his attorney claimed involved “outrageous misconduct.”

Seven people were taken to local hospitals with injuries “ranging from back pain to multiple broken bones and one person refused treatment at the scene,” according to the Will County Sheriff’s Office. 

Will County sheriff's deputies were attempting to take a person into custody before the multi-vehicle crash. The sheriff's office has not yet disclosed the person's identity or the nature of the investigation.

A man who faces a slew of charges – but not attempted murder – must remain in jail under the SAFE-T Act following his arrest in connection with a police pursuit and shooting in Joliet.

A former employee for Will State's Attorney James Glasgow and her daughter appeared for the first time in a felony computer tampering case on Wednesday.

In a statement, Will County Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said she is “deeply concerned” about reports of “federal immigration activity occurring locally and tactics causing fear throughout the community.”

Defense attorneys Jordan Kielian and Dan Walsh have filed their appearances in cases involving a Will County State's Attorney's Office employee charged with misconduct that endangered witnesses.

K9 Edo alerted deputies to the presence of narcotics inside the van during a perimeter sniff,

The Will County Sheriff’s Office is refusing to release police reports regarding an investigation of theft at a nonprofit organization despite a request their disclosure by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

The Will County Sheriff’s Office improperly denied a request seeking records of an investigation that led to a theft charge against the former chief executive of Big Brothers Big Sisters, according to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

A pregnant woman remains in critical but stable condition after she was shot in the head during a Crete Township shooting that led to the death of her passenger.

Will County sheriff's deputies responded to the shooting on Tuesday in the 2300 block of East Exchange Street in Crete Township.

A Lockport father has been arrested after he was accused of abandoning his child at Joliet Township bar and kicking the child, police said.

One of four men charged with the gang-fueled Joliet Township shooting on Halloween in 2021 has lost his bid to suppress his statements to sheriff’s detectives.

A former Plainfield Township landlord who was convicted in February of the 2023 hate crime murder of a Muslim child has died, according to a Will County sheriff official.

A Will County sheriff’s lieutenant who avoided charges over the fatal shooting of a hostage taker who surrendered to police has been fired following an internal investigation of the incident.

Will County reached an $85,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit case that claimed county law enforcement violated Illinois sanctuary laws with the detention of an immigrant who was the key witness of a reckless homicide.

A Will County judge ruled there was no actual conflict of interest between the state's attorney's office and a former deputy charged with sex crimes against children.

A federal appeals court has ruled a Republican challenger to the Will County sheriff can renew his claims that he was denied a promotion to sergeant because he ran against the sheriff.

CITGO’s Lemont Refinery donated funds to the Will County Sheriff’s Office that will go to support the department’s K-9 Unit.

A Chinese national from California is facing a theft charge in Will County after he was accused of stealing cash from a woman who was the victim of an email scam, police said.

Will County will pay $2.75 million for the dismissal of a federal lawsuit involving a sheriff’s lieutenant who was not charged over the fatal shooting of an unarmed man who initially took hostages at a bank.

A state lawmaker wants the SAFE-T Act repealed after a Will County judge continued the pretrial release of parents charged with the drug-related murder of a child but the law's supporters note the parents have not violated their release conditions.

A Georgia woman has been charged with stealing money by posing as a Will County sheriff’s sergeant and claiming a woman owed money for missing jury duty.

A Homer Glen father and mother face a new charge of first-degree murder that alleged they failed to seek timely medical care for their 2-year-old child who was suffering from a drug overdose that led to their death.

A mother whose child was the victim of a 2023 hate crime murder in Plainfield Township reunited with the first responders of the tragedy at the Will County Sheriff’s Office in Joliet. 

An 18-year-old driver died from injuries he suffered in a crash in Joliet Township.

A defense attorney claims a conflict of interest with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office means a special prosecutor should be assigned to the case of a former sheriff’s deputy charged with sex crimes.

A Joliet man charged with a violent crime had been released from jail in 2023 on the wrong bond amount by a former Will County sheriff’s deputy, who’s now facing sex crime charges, police records show. 

A Will County Sheriff’s Office correctional deputy now faces a charge of possessing a video of child sex abuse material in addition to charges of predatory sexual assault of a child and criminal sexual assault.

A correctional officer at the Will County jail made his first court appearance on Friday morning on a charge of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child following his arrest in Elwood by federal agents.

A major bust in Lockport has led to 16 felony charges filed against man accused of possessing cocaine, methamphetamine and AR-15 rifles, one of which is a “ghost” or unserialized version of the rifle, records show.

A reckless homicide charge has been filed in Will County against a Tesla driver over a Feb. 5 crash that claimed the lives of Sameer Gowani, 36, and Quincy Benbow, 33.

A Plainfield man is facing an aggravated battery charge of the 2-year-old child that is punishable by 6 to 30 years in prison.

A felony gun case fell apart after a Will County judge ruled a sheriff’s deputy unlawfully searched a vehicle based on the smell of marijuana that was never collected or tested.